Key Bruins Starter Makes Impressive Award Watch List

UCLA Football has another rising star in its midst. Mateen Bhaghani, a rising junior kicker for the team, has just been named to the 2025 Lou Groza Award Watch List, as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Committee on Friday. This prestigious award recognizes college football's top place-kicker each year.

Bhaghani is the first UCLA Bruin to make the Watch List since JJ Molson back in 2018. In all of UCLA's history, only two players have ever won the award: Ka'imi Fairbairn (2015), who has had a successful career thus far with the Houston Texans, and Kai Forbath (2009).

Bhaghani will now enter his second season as the team's starting kicker. Last season, Bhaghani only missed 4 field goals out of a total of 24 (83.3%) and went a perfect 20/20 on his PATs. His longest kick came on November 7th against the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he drilled a 57-yarder. This was good for the longest by a B1G kicker in 2024 and 2nd all-time in UCLA history.

The Lou Groza Award is one of the most selective and prestigious awards in the realm of college football. As part of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), it's set to be an honor for any player who ends up receiving it.

More specifically, the Award was named after NFL Hall of Fame kicker Lou, nicknamed "The Toe", Groza. He played a total of 21 seasons in the league, all with the Cleveland Browns. Over the course of his career, Groza hoisted the Lombardi Trophy 4 times, while being named NFL Player of the Year back in 1954.

Even though he was an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, he's a big reason that NFL teams invest in kickers so much today, and was a huge factor in showing why there should be a place on the 53-man roster for the kicker.

Only 30 kickers from across the nation are named to the Award's Watch List every year. From there, 20 total semifinalists will make the cut on November 18th, decided by the Groza committee. Three finalists will then be named a week later on November 25th, with the winner announced December 12th during the Home Depot College Football Awards.